Huddersfield

Gordon Brown has been asked to step in after a Yorkshire MP raised fears that Lloyds is planning to "decimate" jobs in the region after taking over Halifax Bank of Scotland.

Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman told the Prime Minister in the Commons recently that Lloyds Group was planning to transfer jobs to Peterborough despite months of lobbying to protect Yorkshire staff after the merger.

Mr Sheerman, who claimed the firm had a duty to protect workers after being propped up with billions of pounds of Government money, also asked Alistair Darling to intervene after meeting the Chancellor yesterday.

Lloyds last night insisted it had "no plans" to move any jobs from Yorkshire to Peterborough.

However, it is slashing a total of 1,660 jobs as part of a wider restructuring alongside the closure of Cheltenham & Gloucester branches.

The cuts will include 168 full-time job losses across its UK retail division, but it insisted the impact at its sites in Halifax and Leeds would be modest.

About 287 jobs, primarily in the bank's property department, are also under threat. Of these, the union Accord predicted there would be about 150 jobs lost in Yorkshire but Lloyds dismissed the figure, saying there would be a "minimal impact" in the region.

Any major cuts would be a blow to officials who have fought hard since the merger was first proposed to ensure the impact on the region is as small as possible. Regional development agency Yorkshire Forward has led lobbying, and Lloyds has spoken positively about the region, pledging to keep the old Halifax headquarters.

Mr Sheerman's intervention at Prime Minister's Questions caught them all by surprise.

Barry said: "Despite all the promises, Lloyds group of banks is planning to decimate jobs in Yorkshire and take them down south to Peterborough. Could you talk to the management of Lloyds urgently and point out that we are major shareholders in their bank and expect better standards than this?"

The Prime Minister replied: "I am very happy to talk to Lloyds. Lloyds made promises at the time when they took over HBOS about what they were doing to safeguard their employees and we will look at that in the context. Any jobs to be lost are to be regretted and we will do everything we can."

Accord said staff had been asked to apply for roles in the new retail department structure.

Lloyds Banking Group said: "One integrated business unit will be formed which will be based across a number of different locations. This will result in the loss of around 168 full-time jobs across the UK over the next 12 months. We expect the impact in Yorkshire to be modest. Only last week, we reaffirmed our commitment to Halifax as a very important location for the group."

Accord general secretary Ged Nichols claimed retail staff were in 90-day consultation.

Responding to Mr Sheerman's comments, Lloyds said: "We have made no decision to move any jobs from Yorkshire to Peterborough and have no plans to do so."

Picture courtesy of Huddersfield Examiner.